Table 1.
Patient characteristics in 2 age-based cohorts of patients: 50 to 74 years and older than 74 years.
| Characteristics | Total patients (N=120,587) | Patients aged 50 to 74 years (n=98,107) | Patients older than 74 years (n=22,480) | ||
| Age in years, mean (SD) | 64.6 (10.5) | 60.7 (6.9) | 81.6 (5.1) | ||
| Low socioeconomic statusa, n (%) | 2367 (1.96) | 2344 (2.39) | 23 (0.10) | ||
| Frail individual, n (%) |
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Chronic disease status | 43,663 (36.21) | 29,875 (30.45) | 13,788(61.33) | |
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Repeated ambulance transportation | 929 (0.77) | 391 (0.40) | 538 (2.39) | |
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Chronic treatment with ≥5 drugs | 19,212 (15.93) | 12,277 (12.51) | 6935 (30.85) | |
| Cancer disease (treated with anticancer drug), n (%) | 780 (0.65) | 515 (0.52) | 265 (1.18) | ||
| Cardiovascular disease, n (%) |
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Number of cardiovascular drugs |
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0 | 54,844 (45.48) | 50,678 (51.66) | 4166 (18.53) |
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1-2 | 32,497 (26.95) | 25,180 (25.67) | 7317 (32.55) |
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3-4 | 20,235 (16.78) | 13,540 (13.80) | 6695 (29.78) |
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5 or more | 1301 (10.79) | 8709 (8.88) | 4302 (19.14) |
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Treated with insulin | 3116 (2.58) | 2194 (2.24) | 922 (4.10) | |
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Treated with antiaggregant | 27,836 (23.08) | 18,089 (18.44) | 9747 (43.36) | |
| Dementia (treated with anticholinesterase therapy), n (%) | 699 (0.58) | 126 (0.13) | 573 (2.55) | ||
| Psychiatric disorder (treated with antipsychotic therapy), n (%) | 3237 (2.68) | 2541 (2.59) | 696 (3.10) | ||
| Urology (treatment for benign prostate hyperplasia), n (%) | 14,849 (12.31) | 8863 (9.03) | 5986 (26.63) | ||
| Other variables indicative of comorbidities, n (%) |
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Oxygen at home | 4932 (4.09) | 3999 (4.08) | 933 (4.15) | |
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>8 urea/creatinine tests during the study period | 1281 (1.06) | 1042 (1.06) | 239 (1.06) | |
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>4 alpha-fetoprotein tests during the study period | 255 (0.21) | 199 (0.20) | 56 (0.25) | |
aDefined as an annual income less than 8593 € (US $9992) for an individual or less than 12889 € (US $14,925) for a couple.